8.15.14 – Reps in Ops, 30-Day Countdown, Virgin America Unionized, AA Agents Representation, Seniority list, Trigger Training, 737, Scheduling, Call A Nurse, 7-Day Absence, IOD, Absentee Ballot, DFW Retirement Briefing

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• Reps in Ops/30-Day Countdown to an Agreement
• Virgin America Got Union!
• AA Agents Voting On Representation
• Integrated Seniority List
• Help For Clinical Depression
• Trigger Training
• Hotel Update
• Reconfigured 737
• Scheduling Topics
• Call-A-Nurse/7-Day Absence
• Filing an IOD
• Register For Your Absentee Ballot Today
• DFW Retirement Briefing
• REMINDERS!

Understanding the Path to a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement
Next week will mark the 30-day countdown to our expedited contract as laid out in the Negotiations Protocol Agreement with the final day of bargaining scheduled for September 19th. The process that APFA, AFA and AA have crafted is different than any negotiations process we’ve seen before. It comes with a defined amount of time for bargaining an industry leading contract as well as a backstop that guarantees a market rate Agreement. It is important that all members understand the process clearly every step of the way. 

A flow chart and explanation of the process will be distributed next week and is available online now. This document should prove helpful to those who have any questions about the process. 
 
Representatives will be in base operations and crew rooms throughout the Legacy AA (LAA) and Legacy (LUS) systems at various times on Monday and/or Tuesday answering questions about the process as we enter the final countdown to our contract. Information about the Tentative Agreements reached to date are available online and will be updated as T/As are reached.

Congratulations Virgin America Flight Attendants!
The Transport Workers Union announced yesterday the Cabin Crew at VX voted to join their ranks. Congratulations are in order to the Virgin America Flight Attendants! The Flight Attendants are the first workgroup on Virgin America property to be unionized.

Passenger Service Agents Representation Election at AA
Voting will soon be underway for gate agent representation under the Communication Workers of America (CWA) at the new American. Please encourage our colleagues to vote in this very important election! Each organized work group adds to our collective strength at American, in the industry, and in the worldwide labor movement.

Integrated Seniority List Reminder- [email protected]
The Integrated Seniority List has been posted to the APFA website on the Seniority Integration page. We encourage our members to review the list to see their adjusted seniority date and placement on the list.  In addition you will find a Q&A and other documents to help answer frequently asked questions regarding seniority integration.  As a reminder the relative seniority of LAA or LUS Flight Attendants has not changed.
 
Please note each page of the list has two columns and is searchable using your AA employee number or last name. 
 
If you have a question about your position on the new integrated seniority list or believe there is a clerical error, please send an email to [email protected].  Include your name, employee number, Occupational Seniority Date as reflected on the new list, your date of birth, a clear explanation of what error you believe exists and what you think your Occupational Seniority Date should be. The deadline to send an email is September 9, 2014.
 
Help For Clinical Depression – [email protected]
Clinical Depression is a common mental illness that affects more than 19 million Americans each year.  It causes people to lose pleasure from daily life, it can complicate other medical conditions and it can lead to suicide. A concern about depression is one of the most frequent calls we at the APFA EAP department receive. Depression can occur to anyone at any age, race or ethnic group and is never a normal part of life. 

Although about 70% of individuals with depression fully recover with effective treatment, less than half seek treatment. Mainly because they think it isn’t serious or don’t want it to affect their ability to continue to work or that it is a personal weakness rather than serious mental illness.

Learn to Recognize the Common Symptoms of Clinical Depression:

• Persistent sad or anxious mood
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Change in appetite which cause weight loss or weight gain
• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment
• Difficulty concentrating or remembering
• Fatigue or loss of energy
• Feeling guilty, hopeless or worthless
• Thoughts of suicide or death

If you have five or more of these symptoms for two weeks or more, you could have clinical depression. Help is available. Call your APFA EAP department at (817) 540-0108, ext. 8701 for confidential assistance. 

Trigger Training and Proffers/Transfers Purged – [email protected]
Trigger Training
September is a designated Trigger Training month. As a reminder, Trigger Training is when a Flight Attendant requests specific training for equipment or service at their base using their seniority. To Trigger, use Option 11 in your bid ballot. If someone junior to you holds a regular selection that requires the qualification for which you triggered, you are considered to have successfully triggered the training. 
 
You can trigger in any month you are not on Reserve. Every training date for trigger classes are not necessarily published on the bid sheet because it is not known how many Flight Attendants will have successfully triggered/how many classes willbe needed. Once bids are awarded, Flight Attendants should call or HISEND their class request on the enrollment dates published on the bidsheet.

During a designated trigger month Flight Attendants will be removed from a trip with pay if there are no classes available on their days off. Flight Attendants that successfully trigger are considered to have consented to moving Duty Free Periods (DFPs) for training. Flight Attendants are not required to attend or obtain the training even if they have successfully triggered. For more information please click here to see the contractual language regarding triggers or refer to the trigger page of your bid sheet.

Proffers and Transfers Purged
As a reminder, standing International Proffer and Domestic Transfer requests were purged on August 5th. If you are interested in proffering or transferring, check your 3* record in DECS to be sure it is updated.

To enter a proffer, enter 3C/P/base-I – example: 3C/P/IMA-I.
To enter a transfer, enter 3C/T/base-D – example: 3C/T/DFW-D
 
Hotel Update – [email protected]
MAD – Good news! The transportation issue of the pick up/drop off point at our crew hotel will be resolved in September. We have a new bus company that can pick us up/drop off in the cul-de-sac in front of the hotel.
 
DEN – We have renewed the contract with our current hotel.
 
Hotel Allocations – Each month, the company determines which hotels and flights go together in cities with more than one property. As soon as the company representatives have finished assigning these hotels, they provide the information to APFA and it is posted on APFA’s website.
 
Temporary Relocations are in effect for SAT-long and MCI-short. 
 
Reconfigured 737-800 Aircraft (16FC/144MC) – [email protected]
The first reconfigured 737-800 with a capacity of 160 passengers will go into service later this month. The FAA minimum crew for the reconfigured 737 is four Flight Attendants. Beginning in October all 737s will be staffed with four Flight Attendants and all 737 bid selections will reflect four bid positions. If you are working a 737 with only three Flight Attendants, confirm the passenger capacity of your aircraft before passenger boarding. 
 
Due to maximum raft capacity, one jumpseat (flight deck or cabin) will be blocked from occupancy on all Extended Overwater (EOW) flights assigned to the reconfigured 737 aircraft. The Captain will coordinate with the agent for EOW flights regarding the necessity of blocking one of the jumpseats. 
 
Flight Service is adding Flight Attendant Inflight manual language for 737 EOW flights. An HI6 message is being sent to all Flight Attendants and an alert message will be delivered at sign-in for all 737 sequences. Jumpseats will be issued to eligible jumpseat travelers based on time of check in per the company travel policy. Please contact the Safety & Security Department if you have any questions.
 
Scheduling Hot Topics – [email protected]
Contact for Reassignment/Reschedules
When Crew Tracking reassigns or reschedules a Flight Attendant, ACARS may be used for today’s operation. It must include specifics of the reassignment or reschedule (flight number, departure time, destination and which flight attendants are involved). For the next-day’s operation, first-party contact must be made by Crew Tracking or other American Airlines personnel on their behalf.
 
Reassignment Pay
A reassignment occurs when you are removed by Crew Schedule or Crew Tracking from a trip or leg for which you are legal and available, and then assigned to a different trip or leg that you are obligated to fly. You are pay protected for the greater sequence total of the time lost or the time flown. You are credited with the actual sequence. See page 19 of the ODCG for more details.
 
Mid-Sequence MIC
Crew Schedule may reschedule Flight Attendants as necessary prior to termination at home base following a mid-sequence misconnect, cancellation or legality (MIC). The Flight Attendant’s guarantee is protected with no further obligation even if the resulting PPROJ is below the guarantee.
 
Call a Nurse / 7-Day Absence – [email protected]
We have received several calls from New Hire Flight Attendants inquiring about the current policy regarding an absence of 7 days or more. An absence of 7 days or more is counted as two points for purposes of the Attendance Policy.  
 
You have the ability to reduce this to one point by doing both of the following:
1. Contacting Call-a-Nurse and requesting the absence be reduced at (800) 555-2373, option 2;
2. Supplying the requested documentation within 10 days of your Sick List clearance date.
 
Filing an Injury on Duty (IOD) – [email protected]
Question: Do I need to file an IOD within 24 hours? 
Answer: No. Per AA policy, you must seek medical treatment within 24 hours of the first day of lost time. See below for information about filing an IOD. The Notice to Employer varies from state to state.

If you are based in New York, North Carolina, California, Florida, Virginia, Texas and Missouri you must report your injury within 30 days. If you are based in Illinois you must report your injury within 45 days. If you are based in Massachusetts you must report your injury “as soon as possible.”

Register For Your Absentee Ballot Today! – [email protected]
APFA encourages all members to vote. Together we have made incredible improvements to our profession by electing representatives who support our issues; OSHA protections, FMLA, No Knives on our airplanes, just to name a few.
 
The cornerstone of our democracy is a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”
 
Follow this link for non-partisan information about registering to vote or to find out about absentee and early voting in your state. Your vote is your voice  www.vote411.org
 
DFW Retirement Briefing – [email protected]
The next APFA Retirement Briefing will be held on September 3, 2014, from 1300-1600 at DFW. The briefing will be held in the Yandry Center – Terminal C across from Gate C2 on the secured side.

The early afternoon time slot makes it an easy turn around for those who do not live in the DFW area. If you are planning on retiring in the next 10 to 15 years, these briefings teach you about all of the benefits you may have coming, and what steps you can take to maximize your retirement.

Bring a copy of your most recent pension estimate to use as all of the options on the estimate are explained. For more information, contact [email protected].

__________________________________________________
REMINDERS!
Vacation Trade Bulletin Board at APFA.org
If you would like to trade your 2014-2015 vacation, APFA offers an electronic bulletin board at www.apfa.org to post your trade requests. Click here and follow instructions to post your requested VC trades.

APFA “Flyer” iPhone App
APFA’s Flyer App, Version 5 is available for download from APFA’s website. To download the app, click here.

APFA Website Update
If you’re an APFA member / pre-merger AA Flight Attendant, and don’t yet have access to APFA’s website, go to www.www.apfa.org and click on “Create An Account” under the Log In Form from the main page. Once you fill out the form, a verification email will be sent to you. Click on the specified link within the email, and you will gain immediate access to the members-only portion of APFA.org. Get to know it!

Staffing
Do you have a report concerning staffing-related issue and would like to submit data to APFA? Please email all details to [email protected]. This email is a no-response email. It is strictly used to collect data. If you have a scheduling or staffing question or issue, please email [email protected].

Share Your Photos
We continue to receive some great pictures from our members both on and off the plane. Please remember that in order for the photos to be useable, they must include the names and employee numbers of all Flight Attendants, as well as contact information (if available). Otherwise, the photos are unusable.

Photos may be incorporated in future APFA web and print projects, including upcoming issues of Skyword, press releases, our APFA New Hire guide and a welcome booklet for our future members from pre-merger US Airways. Please email your hi-res photos to: [email protected].

If you are emailing several high-resolution photos, please limit your photos to 3 per email as our server will block files over a certain size.

If you prefer to mail a hard copy, send to:
APFA Communications
1004 W. Euless Blvd.
Euless, TX, 76040

Photos must:

• Be the sole property of the sender. By sending in photos, you are giving APFA permission to use them in APFA communications.
• Contain the name(s), employee number(s) (if you can obtain your coworker’s employee number easily), email and phone number of each person in the photo in order to obtain permission to publish.
• Be tasteful in content.

AmericanAirlines + US Airways 
“On Our Way”

Leslie Mayo
APFA National Communications Chair